Fitness the key in first Munster win in five years

 

Clare 2-20
Waterford 1-15

FITNESS was a key factor as Clare recorded a first Munster Senior Championship win in five years when overcoming Waterford at Semple Stadium in Thurles on Sunday.

Things didn’t look good at half time when Clare trailed by four points but improved form in the half-back and midfield areas after the break saw Clare take control and emerge as deserving winners to face Cork in the semi-final on June 23.

There is a lot of room for improvement ahead of the clash with the Leesiders and if Clare repeat some of the mistakes made on Sunday, it could prove very costly next time out. That said, credit must be given to the players for the manner in which they fought back when things looked to be going against them.

Showing two changes from the team named on Wednesday night, Clare lined out with a starting line-up as revealed in The Clare Champion last week. Cian Dillon was in at corner-back with Seadna Morey at midfield, while Darach Honan was in the full-forward line. Cratloe’s Conor Ryan and Paudge Collins were the players who had been named to start but they had to be content with a place on the bench.

Clare made an excellent start and hit four points without reply in the opening six minutes, as John Conlon caused huge problems for Waterford.
Disaster struck in the eighth minute when team captain Pat Donnellan saw his attempted short pass intercepted and Jake Dillon crashed the ball to the net. The Waterford corner-forward followed with a point and the sides were level after just nine minutes.

A superb delivery from Colin Ryan to Darach Honan resulted in a Clare point in the 11th minute but another error led to a Seamus Prendergast point, which levelled the tie for the second time after 15 minutes.
Waterford lost forward Brian O’Halloran, one of their stars in the league win over Clare in Ennis back in February, to injury at this stage but from here to half-time, they had the better of the exchanges with Maurice Shanahan at full-forward causing a lot of problems for the Clare defence.

In the second quarter, they outscored Clare 0-7 to 0-2 to go to the break with a four-point advantage, 1-9 to 0-8. The Déise outfit could have had a greater lead at this point as their tally of nine wides to Clare’s four indicates.
Seven minutes from the short whistle, Clare replaced Seadna Morey with Peter Duggan.
Waterford’s poor form in front of goal continued on the resumption and they missed four great chances in the opening minutes of the new half. Clare, it must be said, also had a bad miss when John Conlon’s pass to his Clonlara clubmate

Darach Honan was too strong and ended up going over the endline.
The second half was eight minutes old before the first score came and it was a Clare point from Tony Kelly. Colin Ryan followed with one from a free before Maurice Shanahan converted a Waterford free in the 12th minute. Three Colin Ryan frees followed to level the tie for the fourth time, 15 minutes into the second half.

Shanahan (free) and Honan exchanged points before the game took a decisive turn in Clare’s favour in the 20th minute. A foul on Colin Ryan resulted in a 20m free for Clare and, surprisingly, Tony Kelly went for goal. His effort was saved and Waterford captain Kevin Moran won possession. He headed across a crowded goalmouth before his attempted clearance was blocked by Peter Duggan and Shane O’Donnell was on hand to rifle the ball to the net. It was the Ennis man’s last act as Paudge Collins was already on the way to replace him.

From here on, Clare grew in confidence and they struck the killer blow with nine minutes remaining. A huge delivery from a Patrick Kelly free was picked up by Conor McGrath on one of the few occasions he got away from impressive Waterford defender Noel Connors and the Cratloe man cooly dispatched the ball to the net.

Waterford did respond with three points to Clare’s one in the next four minutes to leave four between the teams but Clare were in control in most areas at this stage. They finished off with points from Fergal Lynch, Colm Galvin (2) and Colin Ryan to set up a semi-final meeting with Cork.

After having a number of anxious moments in the opening half, the Clare defence held the upperhand in the second period. Brendan Bugler was particularly impressive along with Domhnaill O’Donovan and Patrick O’Connor. Up front, John Conlon caused a lot of problems for Waterford throughout, while Tony Kelly and Darach Honan were others to trouble the Waterford defence.

Clare: Patrick Kelly; Domhnaill O’Donovan, David McInerney, Cian Dillon; Brendan Bugler, Patrick Donnellan, Patrick O’Connor; Colm Galvin, Seadna Morey; John Conlon, Tony Kelly, Colin Ryan; Shane O’Donnell, Darach Honan, Conor McGrath.
Subs: Peter Duggan for Morey (28 minutes); Paudge Collins for O’Donnell (55 minutes); Fergal Lynch for Duggan (66 minutes).
Scorers: Colin Ryan (0-7, 6f, 1 65’); Tony Kelly (0-4) John Conlon, Darach Honan (0-3 each); Shane O’Donnell, Conor McGrath (1-0 each); Colm Galvin (0-2), Fergal Lynch (0-1).
Frees for: 14; wides: 10; 65s: 1.
Bookings: Cian Dillon (8 minutes); Patrick O’Connor (36 minutes).

Waterford: Ian O’Regan; Noel Connors, Liam Lawlor, Paudie Prendergast; Jamie Nagle, Michael Walsh, Kevin Moran; Shane O’Sullivan, Darragh Fives; Brian O’Halloran, Seamus Prendergast, Pauric Mahony; Jamie Barron, Maurice Shanahan, Jake Dillon.
Subs: Ray Barry for O’Halloran (17 minutes); Gavin O’Brien for Barron (55 minutes); Martin O’Neill for Mahony (63 minutes).
Scorers: Maurice Shanahan (0-7, 6f); Jake Dillon (1-2), Seamus Prendergast (0-2); Kevin Moran, Pauric Mahoney, Gavin O’Brien, Jamie Barron (0-1 each).
Frees for: 16; Wides: 15.
Bookings: Paudie Prendergast (44 minutes).
Referee: James McGrath, Westmeath.